Leafs GM Kyle Dubas admits to testing the market on almost every player on the roster, says creating cap space is not a problem
Heading into this off-season, one of the key storylines for the Toronto Maple Leafs was cap space, or a lack thereof. However, General Manager Kyle Dubas does not seem overly concerned about it. When talking about the Leafs current cap situation, Dubas said based on the conversations he has been having with other General Managers he believes the Leafs could move players out for good value if the team needs to create more cap space.
In a sense, this should not come as a surprise. When looking at the Leafs' salary structure heading into next season, there is only one glaringly bad contract. Of course that belongs to Petr Mrazek. The 30-year-old goaltender still has two years remaining on his contract that he signed last season with an annual cap hit of $3.8 Million. Mrazek also has a ten team no trade list.
But after Mrazek, the Leafs have a number of players who could be moved in the event the team wants to reallocate dollars to another position. Alex Kerfoot is one name that comes to mind. The 27-year-old Harvard graduate is entering the final year of his contract and carries a $3.5 Million cap hit. Considering Kerfoot just had a career season in points (51), and is only owed $750,000 in real dollars because his signing bonus was paid out on July 1st, he could be very attractive to teams in the trade market who have the cap space, but who don't want to pay a lot in terms of actual salary.
We have seen the Leafs' sacrifice complimentary wingers to help stay cap compliant in the past (Andreas Johnsson, Kasperi Kapanen) and still garner serviceable returns. If the Leafs did decide they needed more cap room, Alex Kerfoot would likely garner a solid return, as would players like Justin Holl (a right-shot D with top-4 experience) and Jake Muzzin (a Stanley Cup champion who plays a physical brand of hockey).
The key for the Leafs has been a willingness to walk away from a player heading to free agency, even when they like the player, rather than overpaying. For example, Ilya Mikheyev is about to hit the open market. It has been reported he is looking for a deal that could exceed $4.5M-$5.5M per season. The Leafs like what the speedy Russian winger brings to the table. But they are, usually, financially smart with such decisions and will likely move on from his services.
Additionally, rather than overpaying big name free agents, the Leafs have been able to hit on a lot of cap friendly contracts (Michael Bunting, David Kampf, Ondrej Kase). The end result is a team with a lot of value contracts that should be able to move bodies out if they need to create space to upgrade elsewhere on the roster.
| POLL | ||
JUILLET 6 | 441 ANSWERS Leafs GM Kyle Dubas admits to testing the market on almost every player on the roster, says creating cap space is not a problem What is the Leafs biggest value contract? | ||
| Michael Bunting | 196 | 44.4 % |
| Mark Giordano | 180 | 40.8 % |
| David Kampf | 30 | 6.8 % |
| Other | 35 | 7.9 % |
| List of polls | ||
